Throwback Thursday: Bob Shaw

That hair, or lack thereof, is epic.

Why we like him: Everyone loves a journeyman starting pitcher, and Bob Shaw was definitely the embodiment of the term. He played for 7 different teams during his 11-year career, and he never stayed in one place for more than 3 full seasons (Chicago with the White Sox from '58 to the middle of '61). Shaw did manage a single All Star appearance in 1962 with the then-Milwaukee Braves, and also finished third in Cy Young Voting behind his White Sox teammate, Early Wynn, and the Giants' Sam Jones in 1959 after posting an 18-6 record (a league-leading .818 winning percentage) and a 2.69 ERA en route to winning the pennant. After bouncing around more than a grounder to Jose Offerman, Shaw finished his career with a 108-98 record.

Shaw does, however, have his name atop a major league record. On May 4, 1963, while with the Braves, Shaw set the record for balks in a game with five against the Chicago Cubs.

Ladies and gentlemen, Bob Shaw, ballplayer.

Throwback Thursday: Harmon Killebrew

The Killer.

Why we like him: The game lost a true hero this week with the passing of Harmon Killebrew. Of course I'm way too young to have ever seen him play, so when I heard about his death, I felt compelled to look him up and really look at what kind of career he had. Obviously, I already knew Killer was a heck of a ballplayer, an 11-time All Star, and a Hall-of-Famer. What I never really knew or appreciated what the true depth of his greatness and his legendary impact on the game.

Most of Killebrew's contributions to the game are clearly documented with some pretty attractive stats over the course of his 22 seasons. His career total of 573 home runs is still impressive in any era and remains good enough for 11th on the all time list (with 4 questionable guys ahead of him in McGwire, Sosa, A-Rod, and Bonds). In all honesty, he was a player who was ahead of his time as a power hitter. Just imagine what how fun it would have been to see highlights of Killer's tape-measure shots every night on ESPN. In 1967, he smacked an officially measured 520-foot home run against the Angels that still boggles the mind. Killebrew was also one of the premier RBI men of his era, leading the league four times and finishing in the top six a total of ten times.

Early in his career, Killebrew could be described as a bit of a free swinger. With his big hacks, he led the league in strikeouts in 1962, but he also led the league in homers and RBI that season too. However, by the time he won his first and only MVP award in 1969 at the age of 33, he was regularly finishing in the top three in walks and striking out far fewer times that taking the base on balls. He continued to be a productive hitter through his mid-30s until his body naturally began to break down due in large part to the introduction and growing popularity of astroturf. One piece of oft forgotten trivia is that Killebrew actually played his final season for the Kansas City Royals in 1975, batting just .199 with 14 home runs in 106 games.

Killebrew was every bit as good as Maris at his best, Al Kaline, Frank Robinson, Yaz, and even Mantle. He was arguably one of the best five players of his era, but he was actually more than that. He practically defined the face of the Twins franchise for the majority of two decades. Even today when someone thinks about the Twins, it's hard not to think about Harmon Killebrew regardless of how old you are. He was that great. We'll miss him.

Ladies and gentlemen, Harmon Killebrew, Ballplayer.

Throwback Thursday: Hector Lopez

In foul territory and in anonymity.

Why we like him: According to my dad, Hector Lopez is the Yankee that nobody remembers, and it's actually kind of a shame.  Statistically, this guy had, for lack of a better word, an interesting career.  He started out in the late 1950s in what was essentially the New York Yankees' feeder system at that time, the Kansas City Athletics. He actually put together four pretty decent seasons there, and even led the league in grounded into double plays and sacrifice flies in the same season (1958), which is truly amazing when you think about it.  He was apparently always willing to sacrifice himself as well as another baserunner for the good of the team.  Bizarre.

In 1959, Lopez was a throw-in piece in the deal that brought Ralph Terry to the Bronx from Kansas City in return for three has-beens/losers, a practice that was used and abused to perfection by the Yankees during that era.  At the end of the '59 season, the Yanks even snatched up Roger Maris, the eventual back-to-back MVP winner in '60 and '61, away from KC for Don Larsen ("But he threw a perfect game in the Series! Forget about the rest of his crappy career!") and the corpse of Hank Bauer.

The early part of his career was a nightmare for Lopez defensively.  In 1955 and 1956, he led the league in errors committed by a third baseman, and led the league in errors committed by a second baseman in 1958 in just 96 games.  Just looking at the stats sheet, it looks like Hector was a player being played woefully out of position in the infield when he clearly lacked confidence in himself to perform at those positions.  After arriving in the Bronx, Casey Stengel obviously recognized that Lopez possessed clearly usable skills at the plate, but needed a change of scenery at his position to alleviate the pressures of being an everyday infielder in place like New York.  Lopez sort of made the vast Yankee Stadium left field his own over the next few seasons, even splitting a little time with an aging Yogi Berra after his switch of positions.

Though not as well-known as some other Panamanian Yankees, Hector Lopez deserves just a little more love and recognition.  After all, he was the left fielder for some of the best and most memorable Yankee squads of the 1960s.  His final stat line: 12 seasons of near anonymity, .269 with 136 homers and 591 RBI, .286 postseason average, a heap of errors, and the label of "the Yankee that nobody remembers."  Well nobody except for my dad, and now me too, I guess.

Ladies and gentlemen, Hector Lopez, Ballplayer.